Hello from Sunday night, yes I know it’s Monday morning

You know what I discovered recently?
I actually only have two hellebores in my garden and they’re not very exciting hellebores at that.

Out at my favourite nursery, Southlands, Thomas had all sorts of these beautiful guys. I love winter bloomers.

Is it me or have I blinked and suddenly there are about a million exciting new cultivars from the boring old Winter and Lenten Rose types? Look at the ruffles and spots and variegation! Have to look around my own hood for houses which will be demolished this spring and go steal save a few.

The Southlands neighbourhood is a very bucolic country gentry life neighbourhood, with horses and stables and rural life right in the heart of a big cosmopolitan city. It ends at one arm of the Fraser River and the Vancouver airport is on an island just beyond.

It might look bucolic and country charming, but the average price of houses starts somewhere around $5,000,000 and goes up from there. One particular house overlooking the path and river is listed at $12,000,000 and has 5 bedrooms 5 bathrooms, about 5000 square ft, and an average city lot. Buying a house in Vancouver means that you can probably afford a house anywhere else in the world…except maybe New York, London or Tokyo.

But it is beautiful here. Blooming trees and pussy willows and horses in back yards.

I cannot believe we live in the same country. It’s like night and day from where you live to where we live. It’s freezing cold and everything is covered in snow………you are right about how expensive property is though in Vancouver.

I know Gill! I feel so sorry for you and all my friends out East and a little guilty for posting blooming cherries and plums. 🙁 And don’t talk to me of house prices! My own little Craftsman house cost me just over 1 million and now has risen another 200K, which means my property taxes go up! But there’s just nowhere to go in Van. It’s a small triangle between the ocean, the mountains and the US border.

Veronica. Thanks so much for your post. I was looking for the name of a flower I took a picture of at the Conservatory. When I saw it’s name I thought I will remember that. This morning no such luck until I came to this post and there it is Lenten Rose.

Hi Veronica. My dad used to dock his tugboats along that area of the Fraser River. As kids we used to hang out a lot on his boats and swim in the river. We went for a drive down there a few years ago and we quite shocked at the size of the houses and the gentrification of the river’s shorelines. Awfully posh posh now. 🙁

Love it!! Thank you for stopping by Behind the Garden Gate, what fun it is to meet people passionate about flowers. Wow, the prices are incredible! Tonight we watched a home decorating show and were amazed how low the prices are. We are out of the Seattle area and prices here are high, but for us, the view is so worth it.

Aw, thanks for thinking of me Daryl. I wonder what the Canada Post would think of imported plant material. They’d probably say, “There goes that crazy girl who keeps smuggling plants into Vancouver from all over the world!” and lock me up and take away my garden…lol. 😀